Sara Baras

Sara Pereyra Baras, born on April 25, 1971, in San Fernando, in the province of Cádiz, is a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer who has performed on Broadway. She began her dance training at the school run by her mother, Concha Baras, and subsequently joined the company Los Niños de la Tertulia Flamenca, with which she toured flamenco festivals in Barcelona.

At the age of 24, Baras joined Manuel Morao's company and performed at the Teatro Flamenco Alhambra 89 festival in Granada. That same year she received first prize in the Spanish television contest Gente Joven. In 1991, still with Morao's company, she performed for two months at the Edouard VII Theater in Paris. The following year she appeared at the Bienal de Danza in Lyon and at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, and during the Seville Expo 92 world exposition she performed at the Auditorio de la Cartuja in Morao's production. It was also in 1992 that Baras appeared on Broadway in Gypsy Passion.

In 1993, Baras won the Madroño Flamenco award at Montellano, Seville, as the most outstanding artist of the year, participated in the Festival de Sevilla with Flamenco Íntimo, and danced at the Teatro Verdi in Genoa in the show Mira qué flamenco. In 1994, she performed for flamenco singer Enrique Morente at the Semana Flamenca de la Caja de Ávila festival, took part in the XXIII Festival de la Bulería de Jerez, toured several European countries for two months with Paco Peña's company, and danced at the Bienal de Sevilla in a tribute to bailaor Antonio Ruiz Soler.

In May 1996, Baras joined Merche Esmeralda's production Mujeres, which premiered at the Teatro Principal in Vitoria before touring Madrid, Barcelona, the Festival de Segovia, and the Veranos de la Universidad Complutense festival in Madrid. She also appeared as a guest artist in Antonio Canales's production Gitano, which was presented at the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla and subsequently toured the Festival de Otoño in Madrid at the Albéniz Theater and the Champs-Élysées Theater, among other venues.

Baras founded her own company in 1997, making her debut as its director at the closing of the XXXVII Festival Nacional del Cante de las Minas. On April 2, 1998, she presented her company — comprising herself, seven dancers, and seven musicians — at the Auditorio de Murcia in the show Sensaciones, a work exploring the different palos of flamenco. Later that year, the Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras premiered at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville with Cádiz – La Isla, a show dedicated to Cádiz. In June 1998, the company performed at the Festival de Evian, directed by Rostropóvich, and in October of that year Baras presented the television program Algo más que flamenco on TVE.

In 1999, Baras premiered the show Sueños and, in July of that year, was filmed on the Patio of the Casa de Pilatos in Seville for Mission: Impossible 2. She danced at concerts by Chavela Vargas at Federico García Lorca's house in the Huerta de San Vicente in Granada, at the Teatro Falla in Cádiz, at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, at La Alhóndiga in Guanajuato, at the Festival de Teatro de Bogotá, and at the Luna Park in Buenos Aires. As a guest artist, she performed for the Flamenco Company of El Güito at the Teatro du Châtelet in Paris during Christmas 1999. That year she also received the Max Prize for the Performing Arts in the category of Best Female Performer of Dance for Sensaciones.

Subsequent company productions included Juana la loca in 2000, which won three prizes, among them three Max Awards of the Scenic Arts for Best Female Dance Performer, Best Dance Show, and Best Choreography. Mariana Pineda followed in 2002, earning Baras the 2003 Spanish National Dance Award in the Performance category, the Chilean Critics Circle Award, and the Prize for Best Dance Show from the audience of the Teatro Metropol de Tarragona. In 2003, Baras received the Spanish National Dance Award. Sabores premiered on December 19, 2005, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and with Sueños she completed a trilogy of recitals that had begun with Sensaciones. Later productions from her company include Carmen in 2007, Esencia in 2009, La Pepa in 2013, Medusa in 2014, Voces in 2015, and Sombras in 2018.

Baras participated in the Carlos Saura film Iberia, contributing her own choreography for the Albaicín section and collaborating with José Serrano on the Asturias section; the film premiered in November 2005. She also appeared in Saura's 2016 film J: Beyond Flamenco. As a model, she has appeared in shows by Amaya Arzuaga at London Fashion Week and for Francis Montesinos in Madrid and Lisbon, and she promoted an underwear collection by Triumph alongside members of her dance company and was featured in a Cartier catalogue.

Among her many honors, Baras received the Medalla de Oro de Andalucía in 2004, the Médaille de Vermeil Paris in 2009, and the Medal of the Province of Cádiz in 2015. In 2000, she became the first flamenco woman to be represented on a limited-edition stamp series issued by Correos y Telégrafos as part of the World Philatelic Exhibition held in Madrid.